Age-related efficacy of Shigella O-specific polysaccharide conjugates in 1-4-year-old Israeli children.

Background: Despite its high worldwide morbidity and mortality, there is yet no licensed vaccine for shigellosis. We reported the safety and immunogenicity of Shigella O-specific polysaccharide-protein conjugates in adults and young children and efficacy of Shigella sonnei conjugate in young adults.

Methods: A double-blinded, randomized and vaccine-controlled Phase 3 evaluation of S.

The effect of active immunization on varicella-related hospitalizations in Israel.

The purpose of this study is to report on the impact of introduction of the varicella vaccine "Varilix" on hospitalizations due to varicella, following licensure in Israel in June, 2000. Data on children hospitalized throughout Israel with the diagnosis of varicella were collected from 1998 until 2003. The national rate of varicella-related hospitalizations decreased during the period 2001-2002.

O-specific [corrected] polysaccharide conjugate vaccine-induced [corrected] antibodies prevent invasion of Shigella into Caco-2 cells and may be curative.

The O-specific polysaccharide (O-SP) domain of Shigella LPS is both an essential virulence factor and a protective antigen for this genus. A critical level of serum IgG anti-O-SP was shown to confer immunity to shigellosis, likely by complement-mediated bacteriolysis of the inoculum. Conjugate Shigella O-SP vaccines were shown to be safe and immunogenic in children, and, in a preliminary study, Shigella sonnei vaccine was protective in young adults.

[Vaccines for all occasions].

The strategy of immunizing a population at risk of infectious disease has been enormously successful medically and has also proven to be cost effective. Development of effective immunogens, that induce active immunization, is a long process that requires careful monitoring and assurance of short and long term safety, induction of protective immunity and proven efficacy in preventing the disease. A successful immunization program is also dependent on delivery of the vaccine to as many susceptible individuals as possible, so as to attain herd immunity.

Use of a computerized database to study the effectiveness of an attenuated varicella vaccine.

Background: The varicella vaccine Varilrix (GlaxoSmithKline) was introduced in Israel in June 2000 as an optional vaccination for children.

Methods: We used the database of a single health maintenance organization that serves 25% of the population in Israel to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine retrospectively. Incidence and complications of varicella were derived from the database from January 1, 1998 until December 31, 2002.

Safety and immunogenicity of Shigella sonnei-CRM9 and Shigella flexneri type 2a-rEPAsucc conjugate vaccines in one- to four-year-old children.

Background And Objective: Shigella conjugate vaccines have been shown to be safe, immunogenic and efficacious in adult volunteers. We have now investigated the safety and immunogenicity of investigational Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri 2a conjugate vaccines in 1- to 4-year-old children, the age group at greatest risk for shigellosis.

Methods: The O-specific polysaccharides of S.

Human and porcine early kidney precursors as a new source for transplantation.

Kidney transplantation has been one of the major medical advances of the past 30 years. However, tissue availability remains a major obstacle. This can potentially be overcome by the use of undifferentiated or partially developed kidney precursor cells derived from early embryos and fetal tissue.

Treatment of chronic granulomatous disease with myeloablative conditioning and an unmodified hemopoietic allograft: a survey of the European experience, 1985-2000.

Treatment of chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) with myeloablative bone marrow transplantation is considered risky. This study investigated complications and survival according to different risk factors present at transplantation. The outcomes of 27 transplantations for CGD, from 1985 to 2000, reported to the European Bone Marrow Transplant Registry for primary immunodeficiencies were assessed.

Engraftment and differentiation of human metanephroi into functional mature nephrons after transplantation into mice is accompanied by a profile of gene expression similar to normal human kidney development.

Metanephroi, the embryonic precursors of the adult kidney, can be induced in vivo to grow and develop. Despite their potential clinical utility for transplantation, the ability of human metanephroi to differentiate after transplantation into functional mature nephrons is mostly unknown. To address this, 70-d human metanephroi were transplanted into NOD/SCID mice; global gene expression patterns that underlie development of human metanephric transplants were analyzed and compared with normal human kidney development.